'Committee Kurrollu', the coming-of-age drama, all set to release this Friday, marks the debut of writer-director Yadhu Vamsi. The film is produced by Niharika Konidela under Pink Elephant Pictures and Shree Radha Damodar Studios with co-producer Jayalakshmi Adapaka. The ensemble cast of Committee Kurrollu includes a total of eleven newcomers in the primary cast, including Sandeep Saroj, Yaswanth Pendyala, Eshwar Rachiraju and Trinadh Varma among others.
Ahead of the film’s release, Yadhu Vamsi had a one-on-one with Cinema Express and spoke at length about how the film was shaped, the origin of the idea, the challenges of shooting in a real location, and how Niharika Konidela gave life to the film as a strong-willed producer.
Can you tell me a bit about yourself and how did cinema come into your life?
I grew up in a lower-middle-class family. My dad is a lorry driver. I did my MBA and worked as an investment banker for a couple of years but then I quit because my heart was always in cinema. Luckily, my family supported me and pushed me to pursue my dreams. I started my journey as an indie filmmaker. I made a short film titled Swardham on a low budget, it won a few international awards. While I was on my journey to become a filmmaker, my younger brother took care of my house.
How did the idea for this film begin? What are your inspirations?
After 18 years of my life, caste became an issue for the first time when I applied for EAMCET. I started noticing that people have multiple perspectives on this subject. Right then, I started watching Jaya Prakash Narayana gaaru’s interviews and in one of them, he brilliantly explains equality and equity. I wanted to tap into this but with a main focus on male friendship. While I was writing, the 2019 Andhra Pradesh elections were happening and somehow themes related to that made their way into my screenplay. The dialogue from the trailer, “Paddenimidhi yellu unna aanandam, paddenimidhi tharvaatha undadhu” (The fun we have until 18 doesn’t remain after that) comes straight from my life experience in my village.
Niharika Konidela recently said that by the time you pitched to her, you were fully prepared with locations, cast, and crew. How did that happen? And how long did it take to get the producer?
We had actually started pre-production in another production house but their working style and norms didn’t sit well with me so I left that project. By then, our 11 protagonists were cast after nearly 6000 auditions. I had already chosen my core team, which includes composer Anudeep Dev, editor Anwar Ali, sound designer Sai Maneendhar Reddy and my direction team. People refused to leave me even when I didn’t have a producer. During those three years, Anudeep and actor Deepak Saroj were my pillars of support. Anudeep composed all 11 songs in our film. Listening to those songs gave me the boost to keep going. And while I was pitching the story, an actor I knew, Ankith Koyya, who works in Niharika Konidela’s office, introduced me to her.
Let’s talk about the making of your film, what were the major challenges?
We decided to shoot the whole film in Amalapuram. Shooting outdoors in real locations poses many challenges. We only had 49 days to complete the shoot, initially, we thought we would finish it in 20 days but we couldn’t. Niharika was fully cooperative. When someone is trusting me with so much investment and time, I have to deliver the best.
The huge challenge was the timelines. The film takes place in 1990, 2010 and 2023. Because the village festival happens every ten years, showing the people and the palace in all these timelines posed a huge problem to solve. Fortunately, our production designer, Pranay Naini and the team went deep with their research. They gathered information on what kind of elements existed in each decade, CDs, lyrical books, the specially shaped diyas. Everything was planned clearly.
Let’s talk about cinematography, I particularly liked the staging in your trailer. How did you manage to capture those beautiful wides? How did discussions happen between you and DOP Raju Edurolu?
Raju gaaru came on board, exactly one month before the shoot. His ideology was in sync with me and my team. He is very particular in his lighting and staging decisions even if I bring all eleven actors in one frame. He used to stand from 5 am till night until the shoot wrapped up. There is one particular shot that most people talked to me about in the trailer, where the Ammavaaru (Mahankali idol) has a tear in her left eye. The way our DOP shot that scene in half-lighting was beautiful. There are many such shots in the film especially a few single-shot sequences that lasted till 5-6 minutes.
The sound design in the trailer also grabbed the attention of viewers. The ambience was given huge priority. How did you work on that?
Credit goes to our sound designer Sai Maneendhar Reddy, who was part of the project from the beginning. Even for the smallest details like the drums used in the 1990s portion to the type of ambient sounds that existed in each period, he researched them all thoroughly.
Huge credit to Anudeep Dev, who understood the areas that needed just ambience and sound design. He used to tell us not to go music-heavy in certain scenes, to preserve authenticity. I thank him for that call. Even our DTS Mixer Radhakrishna gaaru used to sit with us for hours, discussing each scene at length. I strongly believe, that once you crack the right technicians, your film is made.
Even dubbing-wise, the voices sounded natural…
I dislike the regular dubbing voice in our movies and worked hard to bring authenticity to voices and dialects. We did dubbing in both analog and digital. We took an old analog dubbing studio from Rajahmundry where we dubbed the crowd portions of the film. And then, we used to come back and do the digital portions.
What is your opinion on the difference between commercial and content-driven films?
Firstly, commercial cinema is necessary. And because of it, the industry still functions. But, I think that you can make a commercial film even with natural storytelling. In a typical commercial film, when someone harasses a girl, the hero goes and beats everyone up. It is unrealistic, but we love watching heroes like that. It feels aspirational. When someone talks about content-driven films, I feel that’s where we get to see ourselves in those characters and feel connected. That connectivity on screen is my kind of cinema.
How is Niharika as a producer?
She is our guardian angel. When I pitched her the story, she said, “I am here to hold your hand and take you to the industry.” She is, by far, the coolest person I know. Extremely grounded and fully encouraging. Although she knew I was a first-time director, she never meddled with the creative process. Even when we had exceeded budgets, she was cooperative.
A lot of people told me to make this film on a very low budget and that I could make my next film on a higher budget. I think that’s rubbish. You make a particular film only once. I don’t believe in doing better next time. Despite a lot of naysayers, Niharika decided to take the risk. She is someone who doesn’t get swayed by multiple opinions, that’s what I admire in her.
When I saw your trailer and teaser, I understood that it’s more than just the issue of caste and reservation, unlike other Telugu films that stick to one theme. Was it a conscious choice?
That’s precisely our point. We wanted to tell a story about the friendship between 11 people and their lives in Amalapuram, not about a single issue. When we wrote about reservation, we knew that not a lot of people touched on that topic in the Telugu film industry. We never wanted to criticise any ideology. We only wanted to depict how this affects the lives of a few boys. The issue of reservation is only a minor plot point in the film.
Even Niharika understood that and once scripting was done, she never asked any questions in the creative process. Because we are not trying to propagate any ideology, the film is only about humanity and relationships. Can I talk more openly about this?
Yes, please go ahead...
See, the caste system in general, the OC, and BC system is quite complex in reality. Even Ambedkar sir, meant that the system has to be revised from time to time. I and my friends never gave the subject any importance until entrance exams and jobs came into our lives. For example, If we are both SC but my family has central government jobs and you are the son of a fisherman, who deserves more upliftment? Jayaprakash gaaru’s interviews helped me gain a broader perspective. It’s not just black and white. And mainly, it’s not about OC vs SC anymore, it is SC Vs SC where people in economically trodden sections and coming from lower castes, deserve the most upliftment. The concept of equality and equity is important, is what I felt.
But also, caste-based discrimination is often more cerebral than economical, people tend to discriminate against others on a sociological level, what do you say about that?
Absolutely. In fact, nobody has the right to take away reservations. That’s mandatory. That is the reason, there are these casteist old men in the village in my film who exploit young people. Caste discrimination is a psychological issue. And I have dealt with two angles of that. Our film neither offers any ideology nor offends anyone. It’s not about the system or its loopholes, it’s about people and how they deal with it. The whole thing is a butterfly effect.